Chocolate Chip IceCream Kisses!
by Atlantic Jewel
Summary: The average 'girl finds cats who turn out to be the Akatsuki' scenario gets turned upside-down when this unsuspecting girl starts to remember a past that she'd been made to forget. Who are her clan, and why do they hate cats so much? ItaXOC.
1. The Average RoadSide Box

Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream Kisses!

O*O*O*O

The average 'girl finds cats who turn out to be the Akatsuki' scenario gets turned upside-down when this unsuspecting girl starts to remember a past that she'd been made to forget. Who are her clan, and why do they hate cats so much? ItaXOC.

O*O*O*O

CHAPTER ONE

The Average Road-Side Box

O*O*O*O

_When I saw you that day,_

_I didn't know what to do,_

_I'd seen you this way,_

_And, yet, I didn't know you…_

O*O*O*O

Friday, April 6th.

The day started out very ordinary for Emma Harridge, but it was one that she was going to remember for a very long time. There were two kinds of days for this twenty-one year old Australian girl – the early-starts and the late-starts. The late-starts were the ones she liked, but they were _very_ late starts, usually sometime shortly aftermidday. The early-starts were the ones she hated, generally sometime before nine, and would either involve the dreaded alarm on her DS or (even worse) her Dad coming into the room and throwing cold water on her.

On this day, however, Dad _couldn't_ throw the cold water over her, since he and Mum had left on a trip toAlbany yesterday, and wouldn't be back until Saturday the fourteenth.

So, Emma had to rely on that alarm on her DS, which she _hated_. For that reason, she got up quickly, more to shut off the alarm than anything else. She certainly wasn't a morning person, and the sounds coming from outside told her that it was raining today.

Perfect.

Stumbling out of her room, she padded down the hallway, and into the bathroom. The sight that met her tired hazel eyes in the big mirror did not thrill her.

"Augh…I've seen dish rags that look healthier than I do…" She complained, noticing the odd way her hair was sticking up. She grabbed a brush and quickly ran it through her short, dark brown hair which, thankfully, did what it was supposed to after only a minute or two. Moisturizer fromMalaysiafollowed that, as did teeth-cleaning with Macleans tri-clean toothpaste. After her usual morning/afternoon ritual was complete, Emma hurried back to her room, nearly stumbling over the blue Nintendo Wii.

That reminded her of her four o'clock gaming-fest last night, which had ended in her freeing Northern Hyrule from twilight in _Twilight Princess_, but had also left her feeling like she was still asleep at eight o'clock this morning.

Trying to ignore the feeling of walking around in pea-soup, Emma put on her standard black outfit – a black turtleneck, with a short black partially pleated skirt, black stockings and a black scarf.

Carrying her black lace-up ankle boots in one hand, and her very large shoulder bag in the other, she walked down the long hallway of her parents' large house. They had lived there for seven years now, and it suited them just fine. It had four bedrooms that were bigger than most adults' bedrooms, two bathrooms, a 'powder room', a big kitchen, living room, dining room, laundry and study. Outside were a lot of Australian native flora, a lot of sand and a resident family of kangaroos (including a large, burly male who had attacked a random girl and her dogs two Christmases ago). They had a pool, and two sheds (aka, man's land).

Emma admired her parents for getting to this area of living, although they didn't earn _nearly_ enough so that Gaye and William could quit their jobs. Part of the reason they argued with their youngest daughter was because she had been out of work for two years. They said it was because she didn't try. She disagreed.

That was why she was heading out at (in her opinion) such an unreasonable hour – part of the deal she had with the government was that, in exchange for a measly five hundred dollars a fortnight (most of which went into paying her way), she had to go to training courses and consultant meetings every week. Luckily, she only lived five minutes away from the nearest centre, so the fact that the price of petrol was slowly but steadily climbing in her city wasn't affecting her as much as, say, somebody who lived north of the river.

It was still a major pain, especially the getting up early part.

Out in the kitchen, Emma was greeted by Ranger, the family's black Lab-Retriever. At twelve and a half years old, he was getting on in his years, but he still acted like a puppy half the time, especially at breakfast.

Emma took care of Ranger's rice and vegetables mixed with 'dog' polony first, before making herself a piece of toast with peanut butter on it, which she took down to the shed with her as she checked on the other half of her family. She had to take an umbrella down with her, since she didn't want to go into her meeting later on with wet clothes on.

After changing the water and feed for the four year old hen Henrietta (the soul survivor of a brood of six), Emma did the same for the new hens, four little six week old chicks. They clucked and chirped and kicked up a fuss, especially when she threw in some bread for them. Then, of course, the bread had to be shared with Henrietta and Ranger.

It was times like this, however, that made Emma glad she was an animal lover.

After that, Emma headed back up to the house, and got ready to leave. After making herself a quick coffee, she double-checked all the doors and left, glad that she'd moved her white Lancer up to the garage yesterday after her parents had left.

She put on her long-distance glasses, and spent two whole minutes trying to find the perfect CD, before finally settling on _Disturbed_.

At times, she didn't seem like the type to listen to heavy metal but, then again, she listened to just about anything. She was indecisive, unpredictable and somewhat difficult to understand. People often had a hard time getting to know her, although that was partially by fault of her own. She didn't like letting people in, because that's what had gotten her bullied at high school.

The drive to the centre was good for her, however, because it was her time, and hers alone. She didn't speed, but she turned the volume of her radio up as loud as she dared. She tried to be sensible about it, though – she'd blown a speaker up last year, after all.

She turned the volume down when she got to the centre, though, and took her time reverse-parking into a space between a red Hatchback and a grey station-wagon that may have originally been white.

Sighing, Emma skulled the rest of her coffee, which made her cringe slightly, because she always put in too much of that instant stuff.

She then got out of her car, glad that the rain had stopped for a moment, and locked it (her car) before hurrying into the centre.

O*O*O*O

Emma sat with her hands clenched into fists on her lap, under the table and out of sight from her ranting consultant. Jayne (Emma didn't know her last name and didn't really care) had been lecturing her for five minutes about not having a job yet, and accusing her of misusing the centre's resources. Okay, so she _did_ use their computers to look up other stuff (like fan fiction) on the internet from time to time, but that was because her parents wouldn't let her use the computer at home. Only now, when they were away, did they relent and give her access, but that was only because she needed to job-search and put in her payment request on Monday.

Of course, if Emma was late to an appointment, then Jayne would tell the government, and the company would suspend her payment until further notice. Then, she'd be kicked out of home…well, she _hoped_ that wouldn't happen, but Mum and Dad were threatening…they'd locked her out of her room three times before…

At this point, Emma realised that Jayne had just asked her a question.

"I'm sorry, what?" Emma asked quietly.

"I asked you if you've been staying up too late recently." Jayne narrowed her brown eyes.

"No." Emma lied. The truth was, she'd had so much going on lately, that she'd had trouble sleeping.

Jayne looked like she didn't believe her, but couldn't do much more about it than give Emma Look as she printed out some new appointment schedules.

"And don't be late." Jayne warned, as Emma headed out the door again.

"_Don't be late_." Emma mimicked, once she was across the car park and safely in her car. "Yeah, right, she's just annoyed because she won't get paid until I find work." Rolling her eyes, she took her scarf off because it was nearly choking her she was that annoyed, turned up the radio and drove out onto the road, letting David Draiman's voice push away all thoughts of Jayne and the appointments she'd made for next week (all of them early-start ones, too).

Rain or shine, Emma liked to drive with her window down, and today was no exception, which is why the whole world practically heard her singing to David Draiman's _I'm Alive_ at the top of her lungs…

O*O*O*O

Nine pairs of anxious eyes looked at the two, almost lifeless forms lying on their sides in the box with them, but they also only really cared about one of them. There was blood at the bottom of the box, coming from both the injured bodies, and the rain beating down twice as hard didn't help.

All ten creatures were small, although some were a bit bigger than others. They all had pointy ears and long tails, and none of them belonged in this world, despite the fact that they were cats. There were nine boys, and one single girl.

She mewed softly. _What are we going to do, Pein-Sama?_ She asked the cat nearest to her – in fact, their sides were touching, as if they were afraid to move away from each other, but of course they were not afraid.

It was not Pein-Sama who answered her, though, but a cat that was moving around far more than the others, and annoying them by doing so. _What _can_ we do?_ He asked, standing up on his hind legs and putting his front paws on the side of the soggy box. _We don't even know where we are…Tobi is scared!_

_Shut up, Tobi, un!_ It was, of course, not the female cat who said this, but a cat who was sitting next to Tobi. He scratched his ear with his hind leg, sending the tuft of fur that hung over one of her eyes flying into the face of a stoic yet disgruntled-looking cat next to him. _We'll figure something out, yeah…_ He sounded unsure, though.

They were all unsure.

One of the larger cats was crouched down beside one of the injured cats. _We had better figure something out soon, or else Itachi-San will…_ He trailed off.

All of the cats were silent, thinking about their predicament and trying to figure a way out of it.

Maybe they would _never_ get out of here. The best they could hope for was that the rain would cause the box to collapse, and _then_ they might be able to figure out where they were…

Tobi had his head cocked to one side, and was listening to the rain falling on the grass nearby. Just then, he thought he heard a different sound. It sounded like a…pounding.

The others heard it, too.

_What the fuck's that?_ One of the cats, who was eyeing the pool of blood, voiced the thought on everybodys' minds.

_Ssh_! Pein cat hissed (cats are very good at this). His strange, ringed eyes practically burned a hole through the box as he stared. He then looked at the others. _All of you, stand on each others' backs, and see if one of you can see out! Hurry!_ He instructed.

The pounding was getting closer, and now they could all hear that it was accompanied by a stranger sound still…they couldn't really describe it.

The cats that could quickly followed Pein's orders, and Tobi found himself at the top, although he and the box were so wet by that stage that he could only put all of his weight on his back legs, and try to see out into the rain…

O*O*O*O

Emma wasn't sure why she had come this way – she usually tried to avoid taking the street she was on, since most people seemed to forget that it was a back street, and _not_ a main road.

She was, however, at the end of the day, very glad she'd decided to change her course…

She slowed down as she was going around a bend (a potential 'black spot' of a bend) because it was raining and, if she hadn't been wearing her glasses and just _happened_ to look out onto the far side of the road, then she would've missed it.

'It' being a seemingly ordinary-looking cardboard box…and the furry head of a small animal that suddenly popped up from within the soggy folds.

Emma swore at the same time as the song did, as she tried to slow down and chuck on her indicator at the same time.

"Oh my God!" She said, and she said it a few more times as she pulled over onto the side of the road, and got out of her car, not even bothering to turn it off or lock it (luckily, she remembered to put it into park and put the hand-brake on).

She hurried back the way she'd come, trying to run without falling, just as a car came flying around the corner, and sprayed her with a whole lot of water from a puddle.

Emma gasped, staring down at her now thoroughly soaked clothes, before sprinting the last ten steps to the box.

She slid onto her hands and knees just as she reached the box, and peered inside as a bolt of lightning zig-zagged across the sky, illuminating the area with a crack of thunder.

The creature who had stuck its head out of the box as she'd driven past let out a frightened 'meow', and sprang swiftly up and out of the box, making her gasp as she instinctively grabbed him into her arms, and a cat with a tuft of fur hanging limply over one eye stared in disbelief at the amazing how of acrobatics.

Emma's heart hammered in her chest for a second, as she realised that the creature now snuggled trembling against her chest was a cat, and that there were ten other cats in the box as well.

Her hazel eyes widened in disbelief, at the assortment of colours and patterns on them that she could see, despite the rain.

And, that was when she noticed the blood.

She gasped again, but this time it was more of fear than shock. Gashes decorated the bodies of two of the cats, and she couldn't even see if they were alive or dead.

Customary tears burned in the backs of her eyes, as she held onto the cat in her embrace with one arm, and tentatively reached out a hand to touch one of the cats, the closest one to her.

A hiss made her stop, however, and she looked at the cat responsible for this. The look on his face shocked her more than his strange appearance – he looked _fierce_, and the hackles stood up on his back. He was quite a bit bigger than most of the other cats, too.

"Relax," Emma said, trying to stop her voice from shaking. "I just wanna help your friend, okay?" Why on earth she was talking to a bunch of cats, especially a _hostile_ one, she knew not. Maybe she was hoping to calm them by the sound of her voice?

Her voice didn't, but one of the other cats certainly did. He hissed very sharply, and the hostile cat immediately backed down, flattening his hackles although he continued to watch Emma's every movement.

Emma glanced at the cat with the sharp hiss. Evidently, he was the leader of sorts, if cats can have leaders…

Carefully, Emma reached out for the other cat first, who opened his yellow eyes and hissed, rather feebly, at her. Well, at least he was alive.

Emma reached for the darker coloured cat, who didn't even open his eyes when she touched a soft hand to his side. She could feel his little heart beating, however, and his breathing, so she knew that he, too, was alive.

Her own heart began to beat a little faster, as she looked around, as if expecting some sort of sign.

At that point, another bolt of lightning lit up the sky, and this time all the uninjured cats jumped. The one in her arms quivered, and buried his head into her soaking wet top.

Emma made her decision then, and stood up. "I'll be right back!" She promised the cats, who all looked like they didn't believe her.

Emma turned on her heel and hurried as fast as she could back towards her car, still keeping the soaking wet cat cradled close to her. She ran across the road, her heart pounding in her chest from some unknown emotion.

Once at her car, she leaned in and put the cat on the floor of the front seat. She wrapped him up in her scarf, and turned the heater on.

He was a strange looking cat, all black except for an orange face with a swirl-pattern on it which seemed vaguely familiar to her, but she was too keyed up to take much notice of it. That coffee-rush was kicking in where it was needed most – adrenaline.

"Stay right here!" She told the cat, and opened the boot of her car, taking out a white box that she usually used for bringing cold stuff home from the shops. For now, however, it would do much better than that cardboard box. She put a towel that she also kept in her boot into the box, covered it with its lid, and left her car again, this time hoping that nobody would steal it with the strange-looking kitty in there.

She was nearly hit by a silverSedanas she dashed across the road again, but this was because the driver was speeding. She paid no attention to this, however, and just returned to the cats.

They seemed somewhat surprised to see her.

"What?" She asked them, setting the box down on the grass, and opening the lid just a little ways. "I said I'd be back. Now, come on, let's get you all dry…" She reached over and picked up one of the injured cats. He was all black. As soon as she touched him, a little jolt went through her fingers, although that might've been because the hostile cat – the one who had hissed at her before – had just bitten her. He was big and, somehow, he was blue. A Russian Blue? Emma didn't know. All she knew was that he was fierce, and that his teeth hurt like hell!

"Owch!" She exclaimed, despite herself. She knew that these cats must be scared and a little bit untrusting, considering their current situation, but _really_!

Before the leader cat could hiss at the hostile cat again, however, the black cat finally woke up, and turned his head to stare…no, _glare_…at the blue cat, who backed away instantly, and even lay down on his stomach, like he was in submission!

Emma blinked the rain out of her eyes, and then put the black cat in the box, in a corner where the towel was bunched up in a comfortable way. She tried to be gentle with him – she couldn't see the extent of his injuries, but they must've been bad considering all the blood. She bit her lip. She'd heard of animal abuse before, of course, but this was her first time actually _seeing_ it.

The black cat raised his head slightly, before licking her hand briefly, his scratchy tongue passing over the bite-mark his friend had delivered to her hand.

Emma smiled briefly, before returning her hands to the cardboard box to retrieve the rest of the cats.

The other injured cat didn't turn out to be as thankful as the black cat – indeed, this strange cream-coloured and _purple_ cat with the yellow eyes hissed at her again, but he seemed too weak to make any real sort of threat. Emma could see his injuries much more clearly on his lighter-coloured fur, and they scared her.

The big blue cat scared her; too, although he seemed a little calmer once she'd gotten him into the white box with his friend. He settled down next to the black cat, and seemed to be worried about him. Emma noticed something akin to _gills_ on the sides of his face, but didn't dare touch them to find out. These cats were so strange, she wondered if she'd really woken up that day. The throbbing in her hand informed her that she had.

The other cats seemed to have as varying levels of cooperation as they did appearances. A blonde cat with a tuft of fur over one of his startling blue eyes struggled a little when she picked him up – on the contrary, the reddish-brown cat that had been next to him seemed to yawn when he was handled. He had black 'bracelets' markings around his legs and neck.

A silvery-white cat with reddish-violet eyes hissed and struggled throughout the entire process, and Emma rather liked to imagine that he was cussing at her in cat-language somehow. A large brown and tan cat with stitch-like 'broken bracelets' markings on his limbs didn't object to being picked up, nor did he seem to appreciate it.

But, it got stranger still…

A yellow-eyed cat whom was black on one side and white on the other was definitely one of the most peculiar-looking of the group, and quite possibly he was bi-polar, as well. He started to struggle, but then calmed down, until he was in the box, when he hissed at the silver cat and the brown cat, who appeared to 'arguing'.

A pretty little blue (_again_ with the blues!) cat with one white ear was very calm, and even purred contently when set down in the white box. Emma decided that, on account of the size and disposition, that this cat was most likely a girl.

That only left the last cat, the leader, who didn't seem to appreciate being left until last.

He also didn't seem to like being picked up, acting as if he were too high and mighty to be handled by her.

She was about to place him in the box with the others, when he put a paw out onto the back of her hand, as if trying to stop her.

Emma glanced at him. He was a ginger-coloured cat, with strange black markings on his nose, chin and ears that, for some reason, made her think of a certain cartoon-character's piercings (that, and of her older sister's piercings).

When she looked into the leader cat's strange ringed eyes, she was _definitely_ reminded of a certain cartoon-character.

"Holy Jashin…" She muttered, and could have _sworn_ that she saw the silver cat tilt his head to one side as he looked up at her.

Emma placed the ginger-cat in the white box, and he immediately walked over to the lady cat, and sat down beside her.

On an impulse, Emma checked the remains of the big cardboard box behind her, and saw something she hadn't seen before – a bag.

She picked it up – it was a backpack.

Shrugging, she shouldered it, and then picked up the box with the ten cats inside, being careful not to put the lid on all the way.

She then hurried back to her car, and to the black and orange cat, who was asleep on the floor of her car, despite the music which she now turned down…

O*O*O*O

_Who do you suppose she is, Pein-Sama?_ The blue female cat whispered.

_I'm not sure, Konan._ Pein replied. _Still…_ He glanced around at his subordinates, who were all looking at him in the semi-darkness. The girl who had picked them up had put them on the backseat of this strange machine, which was now moving at quite a fast pace. Tobi was still asleep on the floor of the front seat.

_She mentioned Jashin-Sama!_ Hidan said suddenly, his violet-red eyes gleaming. _You all fucking heard her, don't lie!_ He added, sternly.

_Just because she _knows_ about your so-called-God, doesn't mean she worships him, Hidan._ Kakuzu said lazily, earning him a death-glare from the Jashinist.

_What _I_ wanna know,_ Deidara looked thoughtful. _Is just _who_ is she, hmm?_

_It was nice of her to pick us up like that **she could have just left us there to die somehow.**_ The one known as Zetsu said, in both his personas (_fursonnas_?).

_Itachi and the snake-freak could still die anyway._ Sasori said calmly, and it was Kisame's turn to glare. _Well, they _could_._

_ANYWAY,_ Pein said loudly, before the topic got out of hand. _Zetsu's right – she _didn't_ have to do this, but she's helping us anyway. Until we figure out what's going on, we should be nice to our host._ He glared sternly at the rest of his subordinates. _Hidan, that means _no_ attacking or killing. Zetsu, no eating._

The two in question looked sulky, but nodded.

_Kisame,_ Pein went on, and the big blue cat looked over at him._ I know how worried you are right now, but you will trust in whatever our host is going to do to help Itachi, understood?_ Kisame nodded mutely. _Kakuzu, don't steal anything from her._

Kakuzu rolled his orange and green eyes, and then wondered: _What was in that bag she took with her?_ They had all wondered what was in the bag, but none of them had been able to unzip it without thumbs. It was one of the many bad things about being stuck in these cat bodies.

Pein shook his head. _I don't know, but I wanted to be sure she took it with her. Whatever's in it could be useful._ He glanced at the cream-coloured cat…at Orochimaru.

Konan followed his gaze. _What do you want to do about that?_ She asked quietly.

Pein thought for a moment, and then addressed everybody. _It won't do us any good to fight amongst ourselves, since I doubt our host will appreciate it. So, since we _don't_ want to be kicked out, let's try and keep the fighting to a bare minimum, everybody._ It wasn't a suggestion – it was an order. Pein narrowed his eyes. _That means you two._ He added, looking right at Hidan and Kakuzu.

_That means you two._ Hidan mimicked, which earned him a death-glare from Pein which he skilfully ignored. Sitting back, the Jashinist looked up at the lid of the box. _Still, this bitch has got some fucking good music…_ He mused, listening to the beat.

O*O*O*O

Tobi woke up slowly, coming out of his dreamscape and into reality.

It had been such a lovely dream, too…one that was full of people under his control, and the Ten-Tailed Demon.

A dream that _would_ become a reality, someday…

Tobi smiled a little at this thought, and then jumped as the face of his host appeared over the seat.

"We're here," She announced brightly, although Tobi could see the worry in her eyes, hear the concern lacing her voice. "Come on, kitty." She added, and Tobi stood up and stretched, before jumping up onto the seat and then onto his host's shoulder.

She seemed a little surprised at first, but then she smiled. "I can see you're no worse for wear…" She frowned. "Now, let's see about your two little friends…" And, this time, Tobi could _definitely_ hear the note of panic in her voice…


	2. Sometimes Weird Things Happen

Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream Kisses!

O*O*O*O

The average 'girl finds cats who turn out to be the Akatsuki' scenario gets turned upside-down when this unsuspecting girl starts to remember a past that she'd been made to forget. Who are her clan, and why do they hate cats so much? ItaXOC.

O*O*O*O

CHAPTER TWO

Sometimes Weird Things Happen

O*O*O*O

_What I couldn't explain,_

_Something that was there,_

_A feeling I couldn't feign,_

_Why on earth did I care?_

O*O*O*O

The cats all looked up when Emma opened the back door of her car and peered into the white box. They all saw the expression on her face when she looked at Itachi and Orochimaru. Tobi, who was on her shoulder for some reason, crouched there, his head tilted to the side in a rather cute way for an Akatsuki member.

Deidara didn't like it. _Some hardened criminal you are, un!_ He glared up at Tobi, as their host picked up the box, and lifted it out of the car.

Tobi actually stuck his tongue out at Deidara. _Sempai's just jealous, nya!_

_Did Tobi just say 'nya'?_ Konan muttered, subconsciously cuddling up against Pein's side as they were carried inside of a house. They were all of them soaking wet still, despite the towels, and a few of them were shivering.

This did not go unnoticed by their host, who left the box on the floor of a laundry room, whilst she went to retrieve some towels from a linen cupboard.

When her back was turned, Pein quickly addressed his subordinates. _Remember what I said, everyone,_ he sounded very stern. _Best behaviour, until we can figure a way to turn back into humans. You all remember that._ He glared at them all as if to say 'or else'.

Most of the other cats said 'yes', or nodded, although Hidan couldn't refrain from rolling his eyes for a moment, just as their host returned with an armful of towels, which she dropped onto the floor before swiftly taking out each of the cats before they could protest, and saving the two injured cats for last.

A look of concern flashed across her face and, with Tobi still on her shoulder, she picked up both Itachi and Orochimaru in the same towel and sped out of the laundry. Itachi and Orochimaru were too weak to protest.

Kisame immediately followed, although most of the others waited until they could take a turn drying themselves on the towels before following in his wake.

They walked off of the tiles and onto wooden floorboards that reminded them a little bit of home, their little paws making barely a sound on the surface.

From their small height, everything from the table and chairs to the plush brown couches looked big.

_Pein-Sama, look._ Konan whispered, pointing one dainty paw at a large, black animal that was watching them suspiciously from outside.

The big dog growled softly, his deep brown eyes locking with Pein's ringed ones for a moment, before lying down on his bed again, but he continued to stare as the strangers walked into the living room.

Kisame took a leaf out of Tobi's book, and used his new cat abilities to spring up onto a kitchen chair before leaping onto the counter.

Emma had gone behind the counter, and placed the two injured cats down onto its shiny black surface.

Kisame watched as she examined them both critically, her hand gently running over the cut on Itachi's side, and she winced when he did. Kisame hissed softly, but more out of concern than anything.

Emma's eyes flickered over to him. "Now, don't bite me again," she warned him, before going over and getting a small handheld torch. "And, let's see how bad this really is…" She shone the light onto the black cat that blended in with the bench top, and jumped when she thought she saw his eyes flash red.

Kisame thought about how Itachi had gotten injured in the first place…

O*O*O*O

_~Flashback~_

_The Akatsuki had just finished sealing another demon, and were ready to get back to their regular lives after three whole days of inactivity._

_"I am ready to _rampage_!" Hidan had cheered happily._

_"Well, not me," Kakuzu had huffed. "I've got to get back to trying to figure out who spent my last five hundred yen the other week." He glared across at a certain mask-wearing ninja._

_Tobi flinched. "Tobi is going on a long vacation!" He declared, and wrapped his arms around the waist of his blonde partner. "Sempai is coming too, yes?"_

_Deidara yanked himself away from the hyperactive Tobi, and stated: "No way, un!" He looked towards the sky. "I feel my creative muses flowing…they're calling to me!"_

_"Oh, yeah, I get the same thing from Jashin-Sama." Hidan nodded._

_Deidara went on: "I want to blow something up!" He glared at Tobi. "Or, _someone_…" He added._

_Tobi whimpered._

_"Deidara, stop being mean to Tobi." Konan scolded, from her place at Pein's right-hand side._

_"That's right." Pein said sternly. "Konan and I are going back to Amegakure for a few weeks and we _don't_ want to have to be worrying about you lot killing each other while we're away…" He shook his head, as if wondering how on earth he'd gotten to be the leader of such a mismatch of criminals._

_"Ooh, can Tobi come with you?" Tobi asked Konan and Pein._

_"No." Pein said bluntly._

_"Double no." Konan added._

_"Aww…" Tobi sighed. "Then…Tobi is going with Deidara-Sempai!" He decided._

_Deidara groaned. "Don't just decide things for yourself, un! I miss Sasori-Danna…" He muttered._

_Kisame looked over at his partner. They had been quiet up until now. "What are you going to do, Itachi-San?" He wanted to know._

_"Walk the earth." Itachi replied flatly._

_"Sounds fun." Kisame grinned a toothy grin. "May I join you?"_

_"Hn." Was Itachi's reply._

_Just then, all of them sensed that something was about to happen, but could do nothing as two circles of bright white light lit up the ground nearby._

_"What the f…?" Hidan trailed off, as an almost blinding white light erupted from both of the circles._

_The Akatsuki were forced to shield their eyes, although Deidara, without his arms, could not do that, so he saw when a familiar red-head appeared from the circle of light._

_"It…it _can't_ be, un!" Deidara cried in disbelief, and then a flash of blinding pain shot down his arms...wait, his _arms_?_

_Tobi had a mask on, and so he was able to look as Sasori Of The Red Sand appeared from within the light, and Deidara got his arms back. Deidara looked like he was in pain from the rebirth of his arms._

_Tobi _also_ saw when the second figure – with pale skin and long dark hair – appeared, took one look at his surroundings, and then lunged at Itachi._

_Itachi sensed this, and dodged Orochimaru's attack, before the light grew too bright for even Tobi to see what was happening, but all the while, the evil genius was wondering what on earth was going on._

_That was when the bright light had enveloped them all and, when they'd awakened, they'd been little kittens in a big cardboard box, Itachi and Orochimaru had both been injured by each other, and they were in the middle of a torrential downpour…_

_~End Of Flashback~_

O*O*O*O

Meanwhile, the other cats had disappeared to explore the house.

Hidan and Kakuzu found themselves in the games room, which was adjacent to the living room. In it was a blue couch, two TV's (why two?), a tall bookcase stacked full of books, a large cabinet with a door that wouldn't quite close properly, a fridge (for some reason), and the strangest looking contraption either of the two immortals had ever seen.

_What the fuck is this thing?_ Hidan sprang up onto the seat of the red and black machine, and noticed the set of weight attached to a rope that ran up and into the back of the thing. _Some kind of exercise thing? Weird…_

Kakuzu, meanwhile, was examining the bookcase. _Hey, Hidan,_ he called suddenly, as the silver cat in question was currently climbing up the back of the exercise machine. _Get over here for a sec, will ya?_

_What?_ Hidan leapt off of the back of the chair, landing smartly on all-fours, the way a cat should. He joined Kakuzu by the bookcase.

_Check out these books._ Kakuzu poked one of the books – a large hard-cover called The Wonderful World Of Ponies. _Can you read what's written on this book?_

Hidan looked at it. _What the hell…no, I fucking can't!_ He exclaimed. The letters and symbols looked totally foreign to the both of them. _What the hell is this shit?_ He demanded to know, glaring at Kakuzu like it was the bounty-hunter's fault they were turned into cats and stuck in a world where they couldn't read anything.

Kakuzu glared back at Hidan. _If I _knew_, then I wouldn't be _asking_ you, baka._ He said evenly.

_Say that again._ Hidan dared him.

_Baka busu baka baka busu._ Kakuzu chanted suddenly, which caused his volatile partner to suddenly pounce on him, and soon the two were entangled in a hissing fit of claws and teeth.

"Hey!" They heard their host shout suddenly, from back in the kitchen. "No fighting, whoever that is!"

Kakuzu and Hidan blinked and then, remembering what Pein had told them, went back to glaring at each other.

O*O*O*O

In the dining room, Pein and Konan ran into a similar situation, when they saw a pile of sheet music that had fallen onto the floor. Neither one of them could read music, nor could they read the lyrics that were written atop the music.

A piece of paper atop the piano, however, caught Pein's sharp eyes, and he sprang up onto the piano seat to get a closer look.

_Kore wa futari no, mirakuru na sadame,_ he read outloud. _Kako mo mirai mo, tobikoete oitsuite miseru…_

Konan joined him on the piano seat.

_Kurushisa ga ima seeraa aizu,_ she read, her amber eyes sparkling. _Kiseki wo okosu no seera uingu, dare date, unmei no hoshi wo motsu…_

Pein and Konan exchanged a glance. What a weird song…

Pein then decided to investigate further, and jumped up onto the piano, stepping on the middle-c key and the a-sharp key.

"Hey!" The cats both jumped when they heard their host's voice yelling from the kitchen. "Paws off the piano!"

Pein and Konan exchanged a glance, and then Pein looked up, at the top of the piano, as Konan went off to explore further a-field. She smiled at the feel of the plush carpet under her paws. There was a stack of paintings in one corner, and all of them were of flowers. She stared in disbelief at a cabinet full of liquor, before curling up contentedly on a large white sofa cushion.

Pein's Rinnegan eyes raked over a white statue with no arms, and three A3-sized photographs. One showed a man and woman standing by a rock. The woman was wearing a wedding gown, and the photo was taken in the later afternoon. Another photo showed five young children, two boys and three girls. Pein immediately recognized his host, from her hazel eyes and the shape of her nose. He saw her again in the third photograph, although she looked a bit younger here. She was with one of the girls from the other photograph (her sister, perhaps?) and the woman from the wedding photo. Pein narrowed his eyes slightly. Whoever this clan was, they were pretty big on family-bonds…

He glanced over his shoulder at Konan, snoozing peacefully on a black leather couch, and smiled slightly. Even though they were in an unsure situation, and one of their members was injured, with Konan here and the rain falling outside, all was well…

O*O*O*O

Deidara and Sasori had trotted off down the hallway, and came across the first room on the left.

The door was ajar, and they both peered in cautiously.

_This…this is worse than Tobi's room, yeah…_ Deidara breathed, sounding stunned. He took a tentative step into the dark room, which was yellow with black curtains.

Sasori looked around. From where he was standing, he could see piles and piles of clothes, stacks of appliances (some still in their boxes), a bed with only a mattress on it, and a blue couch with even _more_ stuff piled on top of it.

None of it interested the recently resurrected puppet-master, and he turned to go.

Just then, he heard a crash and, sighing, he turned around to find Deidara entangled in a heap of what looked like a washing trolley that appeared to have collapsed on him.

_Help, Danna!_ Deidara yowled, struggling to get free of the thing. _It's got me, yeah!_

Sasori gave him a blank stare, before turning around to leave once more.

_Don't just leave me here, un!_ Deidara complained, his cries echoing throughout the house, and attracting the attention of their host.

"Hey!" She called angrily. "Could you guys _please_ keep it to a dull roar at least, while I try and figure out if your friends are _dying_ or not!"

_Yeah right, un, like I care about what happens to snakey and Uchiha!_ Deidara yelled back, even though he knew she couldn't understand him.

_You're so noisy, brat._ Sasori said.

_Did I _really_ miss you that much?_ Deidara complained.

Just then, he found himself enveloped in darkness, because Sasori had shut the door on him.

_Oh, great, _now_ what do I do?_ Deidara wondered, just a pair of yellow eyes flashed at him through the darkness.

_We could help you **break free if you want**._ The voice of Zetsu appeared to have a maniacal grin about it. _It may cost you **an arm or a leg** but it will be worth it** even though you'll be limbless again**._

Deidara stared at him for a moment, before he began struggling and meowing loudly once again…

O*O*O*O

Sasori, meanwhile, had found the bathroom, whose vanity area was a counter covered in make-up and hair supplies. He shook his head, and continued on down the hallway, reaching a second room on the left.

He peered in, and felt at home almost instantly. He walked slowly into the room full of porcelain dolls, even stopping to admire the detailing on one of them. They were all beautiful and perfect, just like him. The only problem was that porcelain tended to break very easy, but Sasori supposed that you couldn't have everything.

Just then, he, like the rest of the cats throughout the house, heard the startled gasp of their host, followed by her exclaiming: "Oh my God, how could I have not noticed this before? !"

Sensing that he needed to be back in the kitchen at this point, Sasori left the Doll Room, and quickly trotted back down the hall, hardly glancing at a dishevelled-looking Deidara and a smug-looking Zetsu.

They joined Konan; Pein; Hidan and Kakuzu in the kitchen.

_What's going on, Kisame?_ Pein wanted to know, looking up at the shark-cat that was perched on the counter, and staring at the girl's back.

_She found the knife-blade in Orochimaru's side,_ Kisame didn't sound the least bit sympathetic to their former ally. _She got really worried, and then she picked up _that_ thing,_ he jabbed a paw at the object in Emma's hands. _And began to talk to it…_

_What is that thing, un?_ Deidara wondered. He sprang up onto the kitchen chair, and then onto the bench and finally up onto a recess wall that ran behind the sinks. He walked over to their host curiously, and said: _Hey, Tobi, what's she saying?_

_Ssh, Sempai!_ Tobi hissed, from his vantage-point on Emma's shoulder. _Emma-Chan's saying that she needs to take black cat and white cat to the vet, pronto!_ He repeated the word just as Emma said it, and then she placed the object back on the wall.

The cats all watched as she stood still for a second, and then swung into action. She was practically a whirlwind, as she hurried around closing the doors that led out of the area they were in, before reaching up and carefully removing Tobi from her shoulder.

"Sorry Kitty, but you guys have _all_ gotta stay here while I take your friends to the vet!" She apologized, before scooping up the two injured cats in their towel. They barely protested.

Kisame hissed softly, worriedly.  
Emma glanced back at him. "Don't worry, gills-y, it's gonna be okay…I think…"

_She just HAD to add 'I think' onto the end of that, didn't she?_ Kisame rolled his eyes, as he watched Emma carry his partner and the one who had tried to kill his partner out the laundry door, which she shut behind her.

The cats stared at the door for a second, before slowly realising that they were now locked in.

_Well…now what?_ Hidan voiced his opinions.

If cats could shrug, then the rest of them would have.

They were silent for a few moments, before a rumbling sound made them all jump.

_What is that? !_ Tobi cried, diving under one of the couches.

_I don't know, but I heard that sound when we first came in here._ Pein replied, jumping up onto the kitchen bench next to Kisame, whom he looked at pointedly. Kisame took the hint, and joined the others on the floor, except for Konan, who jumped up onto the chair, closer to Pein than the others. Tobi came out from under the couch. Pein faced the others, and said: _Report – did anybody find anything that might tell us where we are?_

Hidan spoke up. _You can't fucking read anything in this place!_ He spotted a piece of paper lying on the floor by the TV cabinet, and picked it up in his mouth, carrying it back to the others who crowded around. _What the hell does that even _say_?_ He would have put his hands on his hips if he could have.

It was a brochure on the islandof Bali, but the cats didn't even know where Bali_was_…heck, they didn't even know where _they_ were…

_Okay, so we've established that we cannot read the language of this planet, although there _are_ signs that they may also write in our language._ Pein said thoughtfully. _Konan and I found some sheet music with our world's form of writing on it._

That stopped Tobi for a second. _We're in a different world?_ He said slowly.

Deidara rolled his eyes. _What the hell was your first hint, un?_ He snapped.

Tobi wailed: _Konaaan-Saaan, Sempai's being mean to me!_

_Stop it, Deidara._ Konan said automatically, and Deidara had to obey her because Pein was glaring at him.

_So, as I was _saying_,_ Pein went on. _It seems that this world's main source of writing is one we have never encountered, as is some of their technology. We'll have to do some research. Anything else?_

_This house is huge, yeah,_ Deidara tossed his head back. _We only got halfway down the hall…oh, and by the way, stay out of the first room on the left…except you, Tobi._ He added as an after-thought, and Sasori whacked the blonde upside the head at a nod from Konan.

Pein sighed. It had been a long day, and it wasn't even evening yet. _Anything else?_ He asked them all.

_That dog's been staring at us for five minutes._ Kisame said.

They all looked towards the glass, to see the big black dog known as Ranger staring right at them.

_He must be Emma's pet._ Konan stated softly, and Pein nodded silently.

_Tobi is scared of big dog._ The orange-faced cat hid behind the couch again, but deep down he was thinking the complete opposite.

Hidan walked right up to the glass, and turned around, waving his tail in front of the dog's face. _Heh heh, you can't get in here!_ He teased, as Ranger began to growl and bark angrily.

_Hidan, stop that right now!_ Pein said angrily, and Hidan at once ceased his teasing.

_Can we **eat him**?_ Zetsu asked.

_NO._ Konan and Pein said at exactly the same time.

Zetsu looked sulky.

The others looked at him, and then back up at their leader.

_What do we do now, Leader-Sama?_ Kakuzu asked him, but it was Konan who spoke.

She leapt down from the chair she was on, padded daintily across the wooden floorboards, and then jumped onto the couch, where she curled up.

_We wait._ She said simply.

O*O*O*O

Emma was, at this very moment in time, driving as fast as she dared towards the vet's which, like the training centre, was only five minutes away from her house. Every so often, she would glance at the two cats, which had stained the white towel red, although the blood seemed to have stopped flowing. As soon as she'd told the vet about the knife, she'd been urged to bring the cats into the clinic _immediately_.

Emma did so, hardly even thinking about money at this point.

She spoke to the two cats all the way there, saying things like: "Now, just hold on, guys," and "I know this vet, she's Russian and really nice," and "I know you're scared, I am too…". If either of the two cats heard her, they paid no attention to her and, indeed, as she rushed them both into the clinic, she had to wonder if she was too late.

The lady behind the counter took one look at the two injured cats, and rushed them both into the ER on a gurney.

O*O*O*O

Back at the house, the other ten cats attempted to keep themselves occupied, which turned out to be difficult right up until Tobi figured out how to switch on the TV.

Actually, he did it by accident, when he stepped on the remote control. The wide/flat screen TV blared to life, playing the 20th Century Fox fanfare.

The cats all stared at the screen, though none of them could read the logo being showcased by the lights.

Then, seeing as how they all had nothing better to do, they spent the next two hours watching a movie about a weird blue bird that got stolen.

_What time is it?_ Tobi asked for the hundredth time, once the movie was finished.

_Are you_ trying _to be annoying, or does it just come naturally for you, hmm?_ Deidara wanted to know.

_Naturally._ Tobi grinned.

_Of course._ Deidara groaned.

Konan, meanwhile, was looking at the sky outside, which was very dark and stormy now. She didn't mind – like Pein, she loved rainstorms. She was a little worried about their host, however, and about Itachi, too.

Had he made it out of surgery okay?

Just then, there was a strange ringing sound, which made most of them jump. They all looked towards the wall, where the thing their host had been talking to a few hours ago was now ringing.

The cats all looked at each other, before Hidan dared to investigate.

He walked along the recess wall, and managed to bat the thing off the wall, where it hung to its box from a coiled up piece of chord.

There was silence for a second, before a voice said: "_Emma, are you there? Hello? Hell-oo?_"

Hidan' violet-red eyes widened, and he took a step back, which sent him tumbling off the recess wall and into the sink, which was full of water.

_Help, help, I'm drowning!_ Hidan complained, thrashing about in the soppy suds. He stepped on a steak knife, and let out a yowl, that was choked off when he took in a mouthful of suds.

Kakuzu was grinning like the Cheshire Cat by this stage.

Through the weird object on the wall, the woman's voice continued to call to Emma, before going silent, and then there was a steady _beep beep beep_ sound.

The cats all exchanged a glance, and then jumped when the rumbling sound from before started up again.

_Could it be?_ Kisame asked.

_Is it she?_ Tobi added excitedly, and leapt of the couch, streaking towards the laundry door, which he put his front paws on and began scratching at with tiny claws.

The others exchanged glances. How did Tobi manage to look positively _adorable_ when he was a cat?

O*O*O*O

The door soon opened, and a rain-sodden Emma stepped through it, looking exhausted. She jumped when Tobi put his front paws on her ankle and began mewing. She instinctively picked him up.

"Hello, Kitty." She said tiredly, and he purred, rubbing up against her throat.

_Prostitute._ Deidara rolled his blue eyes.

Sasori whacked him upside the head again.

This didn't go unnoticed by Emma, who lightly scolded: "Now, now, you lot…it's been a long day for all of us…" That was when she noticed Hidan in the sink, glaring at her from under a mass of soap suds. "What on earth are you doing in that sink, mister?" She asked him, hands on her hips.

_Bitch._ Hidan replied waspishly and, perhaps she understood this, because she gave him a look that plainly said 'save yourself then', and left him where he was.

She then seemed to realise that, not only was the TV on, but the phone was off the hook, too! "What have you been _doing_?" She gasped, glancing at the number on the phone. "Oh no, did my Mum ring? !" She pressed the redial button, and waited for a moment, the phone pressed to her ear. "No answer." She sighed, and hung up the phone. "I've heard of cats knocking the phone of the hook by mistake, but this is _ridiculous_…" She went over and switched off the TV. "If Mum finds out you're all here…you're lucky she and Dad went away for the week…" She muttered, more to herself as she carried Tobi around the room and straightened everything up that the other cats had messed up.

Said cats watched her every move.

Emma walked over to the bench, and hung her bag up on the chair. She turned around, to see all of the cats staring at her.

Kisame walked forwards, and meowed pointedly.

"Huh?" Emma blinked. "About your friends?" She could have _sworn_ she saw a few of the kitties nod. Emma closed her eyes briefly, and then said: "They'll be fine, the vet wants to keep them overnight…oh, God, why am I even _talking_ to cats anyway? !" She held Tobi out in front of her, and he put a paw on the top of her hand. "It's not like you can understand me, anyway." She smiled a little ruefully, and put Tobi down on the floor. "My Mum's allergic to cats, so she'll never let me keep you. I have until next Saturday to try and figure out what to do with you all…until then, I guess you can stay…hey!" She exclaimed suddenly, seeing that Kakuzu had dived into her bag, and emerged with her wallet clamped between his teeth. "Give that back, you!" Emma ordered sternly, holding out one hand.

Kakuzu glared at her.

Pein hissed at Kakuzu, who then dropped the wallet sulkily.

Emma stooped to pick it up. "Thank you." She told Pein. "Actually, it's not like I even _needed_ this when I was in there…" She held up the old backpack from the cardboard box. "It turns out that this little thing is loaded with cash!"

Kakuzu meowed just then, and swished his tail. He was thrilled.

Hidan, who was busy drying himself out on a tea towel, groaned.

Emma gave them an odd look. "I swear, you cats are possessed or something, or otherwise I'm living in a fan fiction…" She quickly fed the dog his dinner of rice and veggies, noticing that the orange cat with punk piercings-like markings was watching her. She put then one of those child-proof gates up against the door, to stop the cats getting out, although she'd still be able to hear if one of them broke something.

O*O*O*O

Emma was in desperate need of a shower after the day she'd just had. What with getting up at practically dawn, getting lectured by Jayne, finding a suspicious boxful of kittens (and a cash-filled bag) and then having to rush two of the kittens to the vet…not to mentioned getting thoroughly soaked while doing it, too…

So, she retrieved a change of clothes from her room, and headed into the bathroom to have a shower. She left the door open, in case the phone rang or something. Deciding to run a bath too, and soak in it for half an hour afterwards, she soon stopped shivering, and just enjoyed the feeling of the hot water on her skin.

Oh, how she longed to go toJapanand try hot-springs! And, go to a tea-ceremony, and , and…

In fact, she was so busy thinking about this, that she didn't hear the light footsteps on the bathroom tiles, or the whisper of a tail as it swished against the towels on the rack. In fact, she didn't know she was being watched at all, until a white face with violet-red eyes appeared over the edge of the bath.

Hidan the cat stared at Emma, and Emma stared back.

Then, the cat's eyes drifted…

Slowly, a look of outrage crossed Emma's face, and then she screamed: "_Kyaaa_!"(Yes, she actually screamed that). "_Ecchi da_!" She sat up quickly, and her hand shot out, grabbing the peeping white cat by the scruff of his neck and literally tossing him out of the bathroom. She grabbed a towel at the same time, as the water sloshed everywhere.

Emma's cry had been heard throughout the house, but it was Konan who responded to it. She left Pein, who was watching Ranger stare sadly at his empty food bowl, jumping over the child-proof gate and streaking down the hallway in a flash of blue fur. She immediately pounced on Hidan, knocking him into the hallway again.

_You crazy bitch!_ Hidan would only say such things to Konan when Pein wasn't around.

Konan stood her ground, her bristled back to the now closed bathroom door, and she hissed warningly. Words weren't needed to convey her message: Get lost, NOW.

Hidan glared at her, and then disappeared down the hall.

Konan's white ear flickered back, as she heard their host say from behind the door: "How did he even get out of the living room?" Konan heard the sounds of water being let out of a bath, and then looked down to see that her paws were wet. "Now there's water everywhere…"

Konan sprang up onto the bench of the vanity area, stepping carefully around the various jars and tubes of cosmetics, before wiping her paws on a nearby flannel. She sat down to wait, keeping her keen amber eyes trained on the entry to the hallway in case Hidan should return.

"I have to try and think of way to hide these guys when Mum and Dad come home…" Konan heard Emma say, and then she heard the younger girl sigh. "Yeah, right, that's like trying to hide a Jewish person from a Nazi during World War Two…not gonna happen…" She chuckled without humour.

'Hmm, now that's interesting…' Konan thought. Apparently, this place had gone through a world war…two of them, by the sounds of it. Such things were not foreign to Konan.

The door to the bathroom opened then, and Emma came out, now dressed in a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt with a slightly scary-looking picture of her favourite band on it. She looked surprised to see Konan.

"Oh, it's you…" She glanced around. "I guess you chased that other cat off…he sure startled me…" She stepped over to the bench, and picked up a jar of moisturizer. Konan stood up, and jumped off the counter. "Coming through." Emma smiled, as the pretty blue cat exited the vanity area. She continued to rub the cleansing cream on her face, smiling thoughtfully…

O*O*O*O

Once out in the kitchen again, Emma set about preparing her dinner (Uncle Ben's Chinese-Styled Rice), thinking about what to feed the cats for _their_ dinner, and talking to her Mum on her pink mobile phone, all at the same time.

The cats all watched her with varying degrees of interest.

"Yeah, sorry about that…" Emma was apologizing for the phone call that afternoon. She tore a small hole in the rice's bag, and carried it over to the microwave. "The…the phone wouldn't work properly, which is why I'm calling you on my mobile…uh-huh, that's right…there's a huge storm at the moment…yeah, I know…" She went to the cabinet and took out a wine glass, figuring she deserved a drink after the day she'd just had.

She relayed her day to her Mother, although she left out the part about the cats, and the rush to the vet. She just made it sound like she'd had a perfectly boring day, save for her trip to see Jayne. Gaye Harridge was suspicious of her daughter's story, but didn't ask any questions.

The cats exchanged glanced throughout all this but, when their host had hung up the phone, transferred her rice into a big white bowl, and poured herself a glass of red wine (a generous amount), Pein stepped forwards and meowed pointedly.

"Hmm?" Emma glanced at him, chopsticks already in hand. That was when she realised that _all_ of the cats were staring at her. She sighed. "I was _getting_ to that part…" She looked around the kitchen, as if hoping some kind of appropriate cat food would just miraculously appear on the bench. "The trouble is…I don't know what to…hey, what are you doing?" She asked the most active of the cats.

Tobi was currently investigating the backpack they'd been found with, which had been left on the kitchen table, and was now pulling something out of it with his teeth.

"Whatcha got there?" Emma wondered, and went over to him. She gasped, when he pulled out a big plastic bag full of…ready-to-cook-fried-rice? Emma stared at it, as Tobi meowed happily. "Th-that's not possible…" Emma whispered. "I checked that bag, and all that was in it was the money…" She glanced over at the neat stacks of twenty-dollar bills she'd made on the side table. "I'm sure of it…" She just stared.

Tobi looked up at her, and meowed plaintively, demanding praise.

Emma looked down at him. "Good boy…" She said faintly, picking up the bag of rice that didn't look as if it could have fit in that backpack. What was it, Mary Poppins' bag? She repeated: "Good boy…"

Tobi's eyes widened, and he jumped up onto her shoulder, meowing happily and nuzzling against the side of her neck.

"Okay, you know what?" Emma declared, smiling suddenly and startling the other cats. "Strange and unexplainable things happen in life, so like the Mum in _Ponyo_ I'm just gonna roll with it!"

And she did.

O*O*O*O

Soon, all of the cats and Emma were eating their fried rice, with the exception of Sasori, who just watched the others eat their shares of rice out of little white ramekin dishes. He didn't object when Zetsu nudged him out of the way, and began eating the untouched rice in front of Sasori.

The red cat just blinked once, before turning and walking out of the living room.

"No, you pervert, you _cannot_ have some of my wine." Sasori heard their host say sternly to Hidan, who meowed crossly in protest, only to be reprimanded by Pein. This was followed by the sound of breaking glass, and a cry of annoyance from their host. Pein hissed again, in frustration that Sasori could sense all the way from down the hall.

_Baka._ He heard Kakuzu say, and then Hidan must've pounced on him or something, because there was the sound of empty bowls being overturned, their host suddenly exclaimed something about locking them in the laundry.

Sasori ignored all of this, and continued on his way, stopping briefly to peer into the roomful of dolls again. Then, he continued on his way until he reached the room belonging to their host.

Sasori stepped onto the carpet, and took a look around him.

O*O*O*O

Emma cleaned up after her and the cats, and took the opportunity to look at them all after turning on You Tube on the HD Box for the TV. She began watching random AMV's, as the cats loitered.

She still couldn't _believe_ her luck (misfortune?) at having found them all, and felt like she was in a daze when she watched them all. Cats just seemed so out of place in her house, probably because she'd always wanted one but never got to own one. The fact that she was hiding this from her parents made things even more surreal.

She had spent the afternoon in the waiting room thinking up names for them all, but had decided to wait until she went back there to decide for certain. She knew that, as soon as she named them, she'd get irrevocably attached to them, and she didn't even know if the other two would survive or not. The vet had been _outraged_ by what had happened, and it had taken a lot of explaining to convince her that the person in front of her _wasn't_ responsible for the obvious case of animal cruelty. Emma had said that she'd happened across the two cats whilst driving home, and had lied that the white one had bitten her when she'd picked him up (it was easier to lie than to admit that she had a boxful of other unique kitties waiting for her at home).

"But…who could have been cruel enough to be doing this to them?" The vet had traced her finger across one of the purple lines on the white cat's side. Heavily sedated, the cat had merely looked at her lazily with a big, yellow eye.

"I don't know." Emma had admitted, gazing down sympathetically at the white cat. She'd just about died when she'd seen the knife in his side. She put a hand on the black cat's side, and he looked at her with sleepy, yet somehow alert onyx eyes. "I really don't know…"

"I'll take them into surgery now," the vet said, as her assistant began checking her equipment. "Do you wish for me to neuter them as well, Emma?"

At that, both of the cats seemed to wake up again, and both began struggling.

"Umm, no, it's probably better if you don't!" Emma had tried to calm down the black cat, as the assistant struggled to subdue the white one.

"Are you sure?" The vet had raised an eyebrow.

Emma glanced at the two injured cats. They both appeared to be watching her closely, as if waiting for her answer. She locked eyes with the black cat and, for the second time that day, could've _sworn_ that his eyes flashed red.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, that I _do_ know."

Now, as she watched the silvery-perverted cat and the big tan cat hiss at each other, she wondered if she'd made the right decision. _Those_ two could sure stand to be 'fixed'.

The big blue cat who had bitten her was watching them, grinning toothily.

The orange cat with the black markings was perched on the arm of the couch, looking out at the other cats as if surveying them. Emma was sure she was right when she though that he was their leader. Next to him, the only female in the group was crouched, her eyes glittering as she watched the TV…no, she was just _looking_. Cats didn't watch TV. She was definitely _not_ a Russian Blue – they were more grey. This was a _purple_-blue cat.

She didn't look _nearly_ as strange as the half black, half white cat, who was currently curled up on the recess wall beside a crystal vase of roses. The eye on the white side was closed, but the one on the black side was open, and looking almost suspiciously at her. Could cats even wink?

The black cat with the orange face was hassling the blonde cat – every so often he would randomly creep up behind the other cat, meow, and then run off. Or else he would pounce on the already ticked off cat, ticking him off even _more_ every time it happened.

This went on until the female cat hissed suddenly at them, and they both stopped what they were doing and looked at the TV screen.

Emma looked too. The AMV that was currently playing was one called A World Pein Only Knows, and starred Pein of the Akatsuki, and co-starred Konan. It also had a few clips of the other members of the Akatsuki in it.

The cats were all staring transfixed at the screen, and jumped when Emma spoke.

"That's from my favourite anime, _Naruto_," she explained, turning the TV off once the AMV was finished. "The song's called A World God Only Knows because Pein – the guy with orange hair – is kinda like a god." Her back was to the cats, so she didn't see when a certain one nodded slightly. "They're the bad guys at one point, but they're still my favourite characters. I'm not sure why, I think I like their diversity. And, some of the guy's are cute…well, for cartoon characters, anyway…" She shrugged, and turned back around, to find all of the cats staring at her. "Why am I even explaining this to a bunch of cats? You probably don't even know what I'm talking about…" She looked around. "And where did that red cat go?"

Tobi raced up to her, and meowed, demanding to be picked up. Emma did so, and went off in search of Sasori, followed by the rest of the cats.

O*O*O*O

_Why weren't we in it **like that even matters right now**._ Zetsu was talking about the AMV, as he and the others followed Emma and Tobi from room-to-room, searching for Sasori.

Deidara nodded. _Zetsu's right,un…I mean, his black side's right, yeah…_ The blue-eyed cat remembered something, and called: _Hey, Tobi, did you _really_ fight the 4th Hokage, hmm?_

Tobi peered down at them all from his spot on Emma's shoulder. _Tobi wouldn't do that, Tobi is a good boy!_ He was thinking: 'I may have to keep my eye on this one…'. He nuzzled his host's neck, and she patted him.

"You're a vocal lot, aren't you?" Emma mused, closing the door to her sister's messy room and, seeing a light she'd left on in her room, headed there.

The other cats followed her.

_How come Tobi doesn't have to walk?_ Kisame wondered.

_Never mind all that,_ Hidan snapped. He was annoyed because Emma had accidentally-on-purpose closed the powder-room door on his tail. _How come we're in a fucking cartoon?_

_I wonder what kind of profit such a show makes…_ Kakuzu mused.

_With you in it, they probably never got past the first fucking season._ Hidan chuckled.

'Yet, it showed a possible time-period of about twenty-five years…' Tobi realised.

_Why is it named after that ramen-loving-freak, hmm?_ Deidara muttered.

_Maybe he dies in the end?_ Hidan suggested.

'That can be arranged.' Tobi suppressed a grin.

_I bet Hidan liked the music at the beginning and end, though._ Konan smiled a little.

Hidan rolled his eyes. _Yeah, but why the hell did it star _you_, bit-uh…_ He trailed off.

'Keep digging that grave with your tongue, Hidan…' Tobi thought.

Konan glared knowingly at Hidan, before she glanced at Pein.

_We'll have to keep an eye on our host, and find out what she knows._ The leader said flatly.

The others all agreed to this.

O*O*O*O

The cats all stopped at the doorway to their host's room, and stared at it. It had so much stuff in it; it was almost like a museum.

Sasori was sitting on the big bed, staring emotionlessly at something that all the other cats except Pein ignored. They were too intrigued by this girl's room.

Hidan stopped by the door, to investigate something that was attached to the TV. It was blue, and rectangular, and he had no idea what it was.

_This world is weird._ He decided.

_No kidding._ Kisame agreed, glancing at the dual VCR/DVD Player, before trotting over to examine something else. _She sure loves her music though…electric _and_ acoustic guitars, plus a keyboard…impressive…_

_That's nothing, un._ Deidara was standing in front of 'created floor chaos'. Pieces of paper with half-finished drawings on them, coloured pencils, other drawing equipment and dozens of reference manga all sat in the exact same spot where Emma had left it yesterday. _This is…so she's an artist…_ His gaze drifted to the walls, which were mainly painted purple, but you could barely see the paint beneath the dozens of pictures, photographs and posters. _But, a chaotic one, un…_

_Oh, I dunno about that…_ Kakuzu was sitting back and looking up at the tall, dark-wooden bookcase in one corner of the room. Contrary to what was going on on the floor, the bookcase was a neat and organized system of books, manga, DVD's and video games, as well as random action figures. He glanced to his right, at a chest-of-drawers which, on the top, boasted an art easel that was currently being used to display hair ribbons. In front of it was a small collection of golden trophies, for various achievements. _I wonder how much all of this stuff is worth, anyway…_

Konan, meanwhile, had sprang up onto the desk, which was where the art stuff should have been, but there was too much other stuff on it. Next to it was a bigger chest-of-drawers, this time with a great amount of jewellery on it. Konan made a mental note to keep Kakuzu away from that.

Zetsu had gone to the left of the room, where a wardrobe ran the entire length of one wall. Ton of clothes were hung up, organized by colour and type, and a collection of shoes was on display in a cabinet. Similar to under the desk, masses of red baskets held a variety of 'junk'. _She seems very **disorganized yet organized** we wonder if her personality **is like that too**._ Zetsu then pounced on an unsuspecting millipede.

Emma had, meanwhile, gone over to her bed, where she placed Tobi. The orange-faced black cat gazed at the fur shawl, and then at the pillow and stuffed animal collection.

_Yipee!_ He cried, and jumped in.

Emma knelt down beside her bed, and put her arms up to support her head as she gazed at the red cat on her bed. "Whatcha looking at, Mister?" She asked him, following his gaze. "My bestie brought me that headband, I'll have you know…" She sounded uncertain. "Why are you so transfixed by it…?"

Sasori glanced at her without any emotion, although he meowed softly.

_There's a poster of that Naruto kid, and one of Itachi-Shi being attacked by a Chidori-wielding Uchiha Jr._ Kisame said suddenly, sounding stunned.

_What the fuck? ! There's even some fucking _manga_!_

_If this a _Naruto_ video, un? Why's it so thin, hmm?_

_Look, a Garaa-San plushie!_

_Tobi, get away from that thing, un!_

_Whyyyy?_

_Don't _whine_, baka…_

_Konan-San, Sempai called Tobi 'baka'!_

Sasori was still on the bed, so Konan took the opportunity to hit Deidara herself. _Don't be mean!_ She scolded.

Pein's ringed eyes looked at the LeafVillageheadband that was attached to the bed-head, ignoring his subordinates' antics, before saying: _It seems that our lives are little more than a cartoon in this world, and that our host is a fan._

_That's an understatement._ Konan joined Pein, and looked up at their host, who was watching Tobi roll around on the fur-shawl. _Do you think we're here for a reason?_

Pein looked at Emma, as well. He glanced at the LeafVillageheadband again, and then said: _I don't know…perhaps…_

O*O*O*O

An hour later, Emma crawled into bed, too exhausted even to resume playing _Twilight Princess_. She had just spent half an hour trying to convince the cats to stay in the bathroom that night, since Ranger slept in the laundry. They had seemed unhappy about this, and she had eventually shut the door, figuring that they couldn't open it.

She was wrong.

Sometime during the night, one of the cats must have figured out how to open the door. Later on, she would realise it was because she woke them all up after screaming out Itachi's name during a horrifically realistic nightmare that she'd never had before.

Like trying to figure out how Lunar ties the clock to her own back in that episode of _Sailor Moon_, Emma didn't know how someone without opposable thumbs could open a door, but they did.

Because, when she was woken up the next morning, the cats were all in her room.

Because they're the Akatsuki.

Pein and Konan were curled up together on a blue footstool. Kakuzu was asleep at the foot of the bookcase, and Hidan was splayed out nearby, without any shame. Kisame had made himself a nest out of a bunch of jackets he'd found on the floor, and Zetsu was under the bed – he was half awake, one yellow eye shining in the darkness.

Deidara was sleeping on the fur-shawl, within the collection of pillows, so comfortable that he didn't even realise the close proximity of the Garaa plushie.

And, Tobi was curled up on Emma's chest, and continued to sleep soundly even when she woke up first, and transferred him gently onto the pillows beside Deidara (whom would later wake up and scratch Tobi's face for sleeping so close to him).

Emma got up quietly and walked out of her room, not quite realising what had woken her up.

She saw the red cat – Sasori – standing in the activity room, staring up at a yellow marionette puppet that looked a little like a bird.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, and then back up at the puppet.

Emma came over to him, and picked him up. "That's Pip." She said tiredly, and then realised what had woken her up.

She gasped.

The phone was ringing…


	3. All In A Name

Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream Kisses!

O*O*O*O

The average 'girl finds cats who turn out to be the Akatsuki' scenario gets turned upside-down when this unsuspecting girl starts to remember a past that she'd been made to forget. Who are her clan, and why do they hate cats so much? ItaXOC.

O*O*O*O

CHAPTER THREE

All In A Name

O*O*O*O

_I don't think I'm the same,_

_As how I was before,_

_But, one thing does remain,_

_I've not found what I'm searching for…_

O*O*O*O

Still carrying Sasori, Emma walked over to the phone in the activity room, and picked it up.

Sasori looked up at her with his expressionless eyes. He didn't mind being picked up.

"Hello?" Sasori heard Emma say. He watched her eyes widen. "R-really? ! Well, are they okay?" Sasori blinked up at her as she spoke. Whatever this thing was, she could hear someone through it, and they could hear her. "Mmhmm…okay, I see…oh, wow…umm, really? Oh…_oh_…oh? Ohhhh…"

Sasori thought that it was incredible how many different ways there was to say one letter. His host's first 'oh' had sounded blank. The second one had sounded surprised. The third had sounded like a question. The last one had sounded like she was completely understanding something.

Sasori, with his paws on Emma's shoulder, rested his chin on the pink material of her dressing gown, and watched Deidara and Zetsu stumble sleepily out of the museum room. The two-toned cat yawned, showing very pointy teeth.

_Wazz-goin' on, un?_ Deidara mumbled sleepily. Tobi came up behind him and rested his chin on the blonde's back.

"I'll be there soon, yeah…oh, is that so? Hmm…" Emma had her back to the three cats. She walked a little as she spoke.

_She sounds like you, Sempai!_ Tobi exclaimed.

Deidara woke up a little more. _Shut up, un!_ He snapped.

Emma then gasped. "What? ! Well…oh my Jashin, I mean…" She seemed frantic all of a sudden. "I'll be there…don't let him attack the black cat! Yes, I'm sure…he'll listen to me!" She went completely still, and her voice sounded odd. "Okay, I'll be down there soon to get them…oh, you don't? Well, okay then, yes…then. Bye…" She hung up the phone. "I have to get to the vet's..." She muttered.

_The vet? !_ Tobi exclaimed.

Kisame came flying out of nowhere. _What about Itachi-San? !_ He yelled, and tumbled into the other three cats like they were bowling pins.

Emma turned around. She saw the four cats piled on the floor, and blinked. "How _did_ you all get into my room anyw…omigosh, what happened to your _face_?" She asked, and Tobi meowed plaintively. He had a big scratch on his face. "And, how did you know what I said anyway?" She sighed. "You're not normal cats…" 'Maybe they and the bag are connected, somehow…oh, wait, of course they must be, ah but _how_…?'. She sighed again, and put the cat that she was holding down on the couch. "I gotta go and pick up your friends…the vet says they're ready to come home, now…" She walked back into her room, and stopped. "Right, I need to sort this out first…" She turned around and walked back out of her room again.

_Follow her._ Pain ordered Kisame and Hidan, who nodded and quickly trotted off down the long hallway after their host.

O*O*O*O

Hidan and Kisame sat on the couch, and watched as their host bustled around the kitchen, making breakfast and coffee, before warily eyeing the backpack she'd found yesterday.

_So,_ Kisame turned nonchalantly to Hidan, who was busy cleaning his paws, the way cats do. _You peeked at her in the bath last night?_

Hidan grinned the equivalent of a cat grin, and nodded. _Yup._ He sounded proud of himself.

_And?_ Kisame pressed, interested.

Hidan sighed. _Not much – the bitch is probably about sixteen, at the most. Not too impressive…a B-Cup, at the most…_

Kisame looked disappointed. _Ah well. I didn't expect her to be much older, anyways…anything interesting?_ He added, as an afterthought…

_Yeah, surprisingly…_ Hidan's violet-red eyes were glued to the girl, as she pulled a box of cereal out of the bag, and gaped at it in shock. _Look at her neck…you can fucking see it now that she's not wearing that fucking turtleneck…_

Kisame looked, as Emma began pouring the cereal into separate bowls. _She's got a scar._ The fish-man/cat noted, finally noticing the white scar at the base of the girl's throat. It was thin, and as straight as if it had been drawn with a ruler.

Hidan nodded, as the other members of the Akatsuki wandered in, drawn in by the sound of cereal falling into the bowl. _She has one on her stomach, and what looks like injury wounds on her right knee too…maybe she _is_ a Jashinist after all…_ He sounded hopeful.

_And maybe you two need to stop being such baka._ Konan snapped, glaring up at the two of them as she accompanied Pain into the living room.

Hidan rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything with their leader in the room.

Emma fed Ranger, and then the cats, before getting her own breakfast ready.

O*O*O*O

Soon, all of the cats except for Sasori were busy chowing down on cereal and milk.

Emma sat on the couch, eating Coco Pops out of a cup and watching more You Tube on TV. Against her better judgement, she decided to watch more AMV's, this time _Sailor Moon_ ones. After watching Cherry Blossom World War and Sailor Moon White Destiny, she realised that the cats were looking at her again, and eyed them back. "Whaaat?" She asked suspiciously.

They, of course, said nothing, but seemed to exchanged glances.

Emma sighed. "I'm really beginning to think that there's more than meets the eye here…" She checked the kitchen clock, and stood up. "Okay, I get the point – I'll go and get your friends. The place doesn't open for another half hour though, you know!" She quickly collected the breakfast dishes, put them all in the dishwasher, and then hurried down to her room to get dressed.

O*O*O*O

"Why's it so cold lately?" Emma complained, listening to the rain outside as she turned the heater on in her room, and then decided on something to wear – the same black jeans, a black t-shirt and a long black coat.

She slipped out of her dressing gown and nightie and, for a moment, sat in front of the heater, unable to supress the: "Aahh." Of complete relief that escaped her lips next. She always seemed to get cold very quickly – probably because of her small size. Because of her size, people usually mistook her for being a teenager. This was especially annoying at the local liquor shop, or the casino.

Sitting in front of the heater, Emma had time to reflect on everything that was happening, and even took a moment to write about it in her journal.

**Yesterday I found eleven strange cats in a box on the roadside! It was a scene straight out of a movie, I didn't know that sort of thing _happened_ in real life! Oh, and here's the _really_ strange part – the cats all look like something out of a cartoon! One of them's half black and half white, another is white with _purple_ swirls, two of them are _blue_, and one has really weird eyes that look…well, a little like Pein's, from Naruto. I geuss I'm an otaku if I can relate a cat to something like that, but maybe this is all some kind of plot…?**

**Anyway, point is, two of the cats were injured, so I had to rush them to the vet. Then, in order to _pay_ for this huge vet bill, I used money I found in a bag that was in the box the cats were in. And, then…**

She paused, wondering if she should write this next part. Then, she kept going…

**It seems like every time I need something for the cats, I can just pull it out of the bag. It was rice last night, and then cereal this morning!**

**THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN NORMALLY.**

**I don't know what's going on, but I'm just gonna run with it and see what happens.**

**I've sort of come up with names for them all, but I'm gonna wait until I get the other two home from the vet before I try the names out…**

She sighed, and capped the pen, before pulling on her jeans and doing some yoga to get the cricks out of her limbs.

Turning around, she saw the blonde cat standing in her doorway.

"What's up with you?' She asked him, pulling her top on over her bra. "I'll be out in a minute."

The blonde cat regarded her for a moment, before turning and padding off down the hallway.

Emma followed him out into the living room, where the cats appeared to be waiting for her.

"I'm going to the vet now." Emma said quickly, picking up a bag that was about the size of a small suitcase (well, not really, but it was fairly OTT). "Now, where are my keys…" She dug around for them in her bag, and then finally found them. They slipped out of her hands, and she caught them just before they hit the floor.

Her keys were actually her car key and house key, and then about sixty different key rings. This included a little Egyptian sarcophagus, the Chinese symbol for 'horse', a Pikachu, a random yellow bird, and…

_What the…_ Deidara, before he knew what he was doing, pounced on the keyring of himself, which was chibified but obviously him, nonetheless.

As he hung a couple of centimetres off the ground, he expected his host to scold him, but instead she just laughed, and picked him up. Deidara tensed up for a moment, before she placed the keys on the bench and used her free hand to scratch him behind the ear – it actually felt good!

Deidara couldn't supress the purr, and tried to ignore Kisame and Hidan's snickers. His eyes were half-closed, before he shook his head slightly and thought: _What am I doing? !_

_Hey, Dei-Dei,_ Kisame teased him, sitting on the back of the couch and grinning. _Maybe she'll even put a wibbon awound your neck!_

Hidan was doubled over in silent laughter by this stage.

Deidara glared at them with his one visible eye.

Emma put him down on the kitchen counter, and picked up her keys.

"You know, for a cat," she said thoughtfully, gazing into the endless blue of his eyes. "You kinda look like this Deidara guy…he's the one a lot of people say look like a girl," Deidara froze. "But, you know, I don't think he does…" She laughed sheepishly. "He's to cool to be anything but a guy, I think his eyes are amazing!" She picked up her bag. "Plus, he's an artist, so I can appreciate that!" She hurried over to the laundry door. "Okay, I've shut the doors leading out, and if you open them again _I will find out_." She glared.

The Akatsuki were not threatened by this.

"See ya!" Emma called, and they heard the door slam, followed by that rumbling sound again (the roller door).

Deidara stood up, and leapt at Kisame, claws flashing and fur bristled. The two cats were soon attempting to kill each other, before Ranger barked once, warningly, and most of the Akatsuki jumped.

Pein nodded, somewhat approvingly.

O*O*O*O

Emma had to admit, that she was waiting on pins and needles at the vet's. What was taking them so long?

She looked around the small waiting room, at the pictures of dogs and cats and other animals, and then her eyes fell on a chart of different cat breeds. She stood up and walked over to it, already dreading what she was about to see.

Well, they could always be the cat version of mongrels…

O*O*O*O

Itachi still felt sleepy after his operation. The nurse had given him multiple injections, one to knock him out, and the rest were painkillers, but Orochimaru had needed twice as many sedatives. Said now-cat was currently asleep in his cage, where he had been knocked out via anaesthetic after trying to attack Itachi. The doctors had pulled the knife out of his side, and bandaged him and Itachi up. They said that the two cats had healed remarkably well, considering their injuries.

If only they knew…

"Luckily, they're both going to make full recoveries."

Itachi was on the verge of following Orochimaru into sleep-land, when a new voice outside in the waiting room made his pointed ears prick up.

"Oh, thank goodness, I've been so worried…"

Itachi blinked his eyes open, and struggled to stand up. The bandages around his middle, and around the top part of his front right leg, didn't help.

In the cage next to him, Orochimaru opened his yellow eyes partway, but didn't say anything. He was still too sleepy. Bandages were wrapped around his middle, closer to his back legs, and he had another one on the top part of his right front leg.

Itachi didn't care – for all that mattered to him, the nurse should have put Orochimaru out of his misery, or at the very least neutered him.

Itachi was glad he'd put up a fight against that, though. It was out of character for him, but he didn't want to be a half-man, like…_Deidara_…

However, such a thing would serve Orochimaru right…

The door to the holding room suddenly opened, and the nurse with the strange accent came in, followed by a small young woman dressed all in black. Itachi stared at her as she came right over to him, and knelt down a little to peer into the cage.

Her hazel eyes, which were a little bit of every colour, but mostly brown and grey, stared into Itachi's onyx orbs, as if trying to read him.

Then, she blinked a few times, as if trying to fight back tears, and straightened up.

Turning to the vet, she asked her: "May I take them home now?"

The nurse looked at her strangely. "You actually want them?" She didn't say it in an unkind way, but both Itachi and Orochimaru bristled, as did Emma.

"_Yes_." She said, trying not to sound irritated.

"Both of them?" The Russian nurse glanced at Orochimaru, as did Emma. "That white one's a trouble-maker…at least the black one's got some manners."

Orochimaru hissed at her.

The nurse gave Emma a Look that plainly said: _See_?

Emma glanced at him, and then shrugged. "Yes, he's good. I can tell."

O*O*O*O

_I am going to make this girl's life a living nightmare!_ Orochimaru vowed.

_You'll do no such thing._ Itachi replied from his own carrying case, which was next to Orochimaru's on the back seat of the car. _It's us against you, anyway._

_What makes you think the rest of your little _friends _are back at this girl's house anyway, Uchiha? _Orochimaru wanted to know.

_You heard what she said,_ Itachi said flatly. _If she's willing to take _you_ in, she's probably got the rest of the Akatsuki at her house. She seems the type to care about those in need._

He settled down for a nap, but managed to glare at Orochimaru again when the white cat said: _She seems the type to get killed by a group of criminals for housing them. What's she going to do when we all transform back, and she finds out who we really are?_

Itachi didn't have an answer for that, but it didn't stop him from wondering…no, _worrying_ about it…

O*O*O*O

When Itachi woke up again, he found that he was out of the cage, and in a room that, for some reason, was filled with dolls. It was a room that he was sure Sasori would like and, sure enough, when the Uchiha stood up, there was a now familiar-looking reddish-brown cat staring at him from the end of the bed.

_Welcome back to the land of the living._ Sasori said, by way of greeting, before jumping off the bed and walking to the doorway. _He's awake._ Sasori didn't yell, but his voice carried throughout the house and, when most of the other cats heard it, they came running. Sasori jumped back onto the bed. _They're coming._ He told Itachi simply.

Soon, most of the other members of the Akatsuki were present, save for Hidan, Deidara and Tobi.

Kisame said: _Hidan's having a time-out._ He chuckled. _Apparently, our host was rather attached to that coffee mug._

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

Pein shook his head. _He should have known better._ The Akatsuki leader said firmly. _Emma was kind enough to take us in…unfortunately, her kindness got her injured._

That news made Itachi sit up a little straighter. _What happened?_ He asked calmly.

_Orochimaru._ Kisame and Kakuzu answered in unison.

_He scratched her arms with a ferocity that would put even Zetsu to shame._ Konan explained.

Itachi was vaguely horrified.

_We wouldn't hurt her** although she certainly does look quite delicious** we don't mean anything else by that **or do we**?_ Zetsu spoke in both of his personas. His yellow eyes flashed.

The others just stared at him, before turning back at Itachi, who seemed a little uneasy.

He had established that they had all been taken in, and that this was the house they would now be living at until they could figure out some way to turn into humans again. He wasn't sure where in the world they were, or even if they were _in_ their own world, but there was one thing he knew for certain.

He asked: _Where is she now?_

Pein jabbed a paw out the door, and towards another visible door a little further down. _She's resting._

_After what happened, who can blame her?_ Konan muttered.

_Where's Orochimaru?_ Itachi wanted to know, wincing a little as he jumped off the bed, and his entire body felt groggy and sore.

He walked past a little linen closet, where a very angry yowl could suddenly be heard from inside.

_I guess that answers that question._ Itachi continued into the room slowly, taking in the sights of the museum room, which Emma had cleaned the floor of sometime that morning.

It was now early afternoon.

Itachi hopped up onto the bed, where Emma was lying on her back, asleep. Itachi could see where she'd had to doctor her arms up after her run in with the vicious white cat, and hoped that she'd live up to the 'once bitten, twice shy' saying. Then again, he would so dearly _love_ to repay the favour to Orochimaru someday.

What confused Itachi, however, was not the Leaf Village headband hanging over the bedhead, or even the strange animal fur shawl draped across the girl's stomach.

No, it was Tobi, asleep curled up on the girl's chest, and Deidara, nestled there on the blankets with his head resting against the girl's hand.

Itachi stared at the sleeping blonde cat for a second, before pointedly going over and placing himself between Deidara and Emma, curling up against the girl's side and falling asleep instantly.

Pein and Konan watched this all from the doorway.

_This is very strange._ Pein said bluntly, his Rinnegan eyes staring at the four sleeping in the afternoon.

_Pein-Sama…_ Konan said quietly, her tail swishing. _I need to talk to you about something…_

O*O*O*O

Later that evening, Emma sat in the living room, with a bowl of ice-cream and a glass of red wine (again). Then again, she'd had her arms cut open today, major flesh wounds. She couldn't drink tomorrow night because she had to be up early on Monday (another early start). So, she was savouring it now, as she took a sip, and then said to the cats: "I've decided to name you all."

The Akatsuki eyed each other warily, before glancing back at their host. She didn't know who they really were, so what kind of names would she give them? Strange ones, no doubt…

Emma looked around at the cats, before looking directly at Pein. "Since you seem to be the leader of sorts, that's what I've decided to call you."

Pein was sitting on the back of the big couch with Konan, who whispered to him: _She got it in one try._ He nodded.

"And, your lady friend," Emma went on, and Konan looked quickly back at her. "Is also named accordingly – Lady."

Konan blinked, and then decided that the name was okay.

"You," Emma went on, looking over at the violet-red-eyed Hidan. "I wasn't sure what to call, but then I think you remind me of an old man."

At this, Kakuzu and Kisame both started chuckling, as Hidan gave them both Death Glares.

"It was going to be Jiraiya for a little while," Emma said, and both Pein and Konan stared at her. "But, then I decided on Snowy…hey, don't look at me like that!" She noticed that the white cat seemed to be glaring at her. "It was my Grandfather's nickname, and he was a great man, well, aside from the old-man syndrome." She said, and everyone in the room knew what she meant, although Tobi pretended he didn't, and asked Kakuzu what it meant.

_Why the hell are you asking _me_?_ The tan cat hissed angrily.

"You," Emma pointed to him suddenly, and he tensed. He was sitting on the arm of the big couch near to Hidan, closest to the small couch where Tobi was lounging. "I am going to call Kash, short for Kashier. I knew a horse by that name, and he could've been a race horse probably and won lots of money. So, Kash – with a 'K'."

Kakuzu managed to shrug. He didn't really care – at least his name wasn't 'Snowy'.

"You, Mister," Emma reached over, and petted Tobi. He purred, and nuzzled up against her hand. "I am going to call Lucky, because if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have found all you guys."

_Huh, she calls that luck?_ Kakuzu "Kash" rolled his eyes. _After Kisame nearly took her finger off._

It was ironic that Kisame was named next, after that. "I was going to call you 'Gills', because the markings on your face look like gills," Emma gave the big blue cat a stern look. "But, then I remembered how you nearly took my finger off, so from now on you are Jaws, after the killer shark from the movie with the same name." She nodded firmly.

Kisame sat back on his place on the floor. He was satisfied with his name. At least it wasn't 'Snowy'.

"For the Deidara look-alike," Emma went on, and the cat-in-question looked up at her from his place on the coffee table (where he was eyeing the glass of red wine). "I've decided on Blondie, short for 'Blonde-Bombshell'."

Hidan laughed at this. _Ha! Blondie! Sounds like some fucking female rock-star!_

_Shut up, Snowy!_ Deidara snapped, and the two of them would have started fighting, had "Leader" not given them both a Look.

"For your friend who, umm, scratched me," Emma glanced at the bandages on her arms, and winced at the memory. "I thought up Outcast, because you guys don't seem to like him very much, do you?" She froze when the other cats shook their heads, and wondered if she'd had too much wine. Deciding to ignore this, she looked at Sasori next. "Red – it's plain and simple and suits a calm cat like you."

Sasori merely blinked. He was known as Sasori Of the Red Sand, after all. He didn't mind his new nick-name.

Emma then looked down at Itachi. The black cat, who was lying across her lap on a mass of very soft blankets, looked calmly back up at her, his soft onyx eyes meeting her hazel ones.

"For you," Emma said softly. "I've decided on Shadow. I think it suits you." She carefully scratched behind his ear. Itachi noticed that she was always very careful when she picked him up or patted him, whether it was because of his injuries or hers, he knew not.

The moment lasted a little bit longer than the others could understand, and was only broken by the ringing of the phone, which rang right up until Emma had carried Itachi with her over to the laundry door. She reached for the phone, which instantly stopped ringing.

Emma glared at it. "Damn you…" She muttered, and turned back around. "And, anyway, the black and white two-toned cat…" She looked up at Zetsu, who was watching her from the recess wall. "I really _can't_ think of what to call you, dearie…I was thinking of Yin-Yang, but who calls their cat that?" She sighed, and watched a black shape wriggle out from underneath the table. "Oh look, a snake…" She gasped suddenly. "A snake!" She repeated, this time a little more anxiously, and she looked around her as if hoping for a miracle. "Oh God, it's a Dugite, I always dreaded one of these would show up when Mum and Dad weren't home, now what do I do? !" The wine was starting to kick in. She was frantic.

Just then, a silver blur shot across the floor, tackling the snake head on.

Emma watched in stunned silence as the cat she'd just named Snowy savagely bit the snake over and over again, somehow managing to avoid being bitten himself, and soon there were little trails of blood underneath the table.

Emma sank to a sitting position, her back to the recess wall and Itachi cradled in her arms. He felt the pounding of her heart in her chest, and knew from her body language that she didn't really want to watch this, and yet she couldn't tear her eyes away from it, either…

Itachi knew the feeling, well…

When the snake was dead, the white cat looked over at Emma first, and then up at the black and white cat perched on the recess wall.

Zetsu grinned, and jumped down from the wall, bounding over to the dead snake, and almost tag-teaming Hidan, who bounded back into the living room, as Zetsu began to…

_Itachi!_ Konan suddenly exclaimed. _Don't let her see this!_ The female cat cried urgently.

_Too late._ Itachi watched the colour drain from the human girl's face, as she watched the macabre scene play out before her. Itachi moved his body up as best he could, and nuzzled under her chin the way he'd seen Tobi do it, knowing that the other members of the Akatsuki couldn't see him (that, and Zetsu was too busy with his meal…)…

Emma gulped, and then said: "I know what to call him…" She was almost whispering by this stage. "Zetsu."

O*O*O*O

That night, Emma fell asleep almost instantly, which wasn't normal for her. Outside, the rain pounded down relentlessly.

Inside, Ranger was asleep in the laundry. Orochimaru was glaring into the darkness of the linen closet.

Most of the Akatsuki were asleep in Emma's room again. Zetsu was sleeping under the bed again. Hidan was curled up on a blue footstool, and Kakuzu was asleep on the swivelly desk chair. Kisame was sleeping in the crevice between the TV cabinet and the chest-of-drawers. Deidara was curled up at the foot of the bed, and Tobi was at the head of the bed, nestled between a purple stuffed dinosaur and a cartoonish pink rabbit. Sasori was perched in the bookcase, watching them.

Itachi had started out in the cat cage, but had soon picked the lock with his claw and made his way up onto the bed, where he curled up at Emma's side again, and fell asleep.

Pein and Konan watched all of this from the doorway.

_Do you really think it's true?_ Pein asked his partner, continuing their conversation from earlier.

Konan's afce remained expressionless. _You've seen the way he acts around her...we both know it's not like him._

_Yes, but he's also been through a serious operation._ Pein argued.

Konan sighed. She knew her partner was only trying to see this from allpossible angles. _Let's talk about this more in the morning._ She suggested, going over to bully Hidan off of the footstool.

As Sasori watched this, he thought: 'I wonder if it's THAT...?'...


End file.
